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Anyone else building a frame for a 12 ribbon CCR tree?


Frank Farmer

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Finally got pick of the tree up and going. Used advice from everyone's posts. Buried 2inch steel pipe 4ft deep in which 2-10ft 1.5 feet steel pipe went into. Used 1/2 conduit to go up which attached to a cross beam below the star that had eye hooks in them. Each rod has a hook fastened to it and slips into the designated eye hook above. A 1/2 conduit support brace was put across mid level then brought back to pole to keep conduit from bending in towards structure. The bottom is 2x4 lifted since grass isn't level. Each rod slips into a designated hole which allows movement for the expansion of the rods.

Created a separate apparatus to secure heavy star on top with weight of coro, lights and extension cords. This also allowed easy removal of star if need and then also allowed a 1/2 steel pole to swivel behind structure for additional bracing...

I didn't want a one piece structure so we decided to go this route and modulize the process. Take down and Set up time can be achieved in just over an hour now! Compared to the days it took last year. Storage is simple as well.

Thanks for all the help and great ideas.

B

post-10802-0-60302800-1387534847_thumb.j

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A quick question, My house is only 25 feet from the street, will his tree look that good close-up ?

I was going to ask the same question. I was wondering if you lose anything with the 3 LEDs being controlled together with it being closer.

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Finally got pick of the tree up and going. Used advice from everyone's posts. Buried 2inch steel pipe 4ft deep in which 2-10ft 1.5 feet steel pipe went into. Used 1/2 conduit to go up which attached to a cross beam below the star that had eye hooks in them. Each rod has a hook fastened to it and slips into the designated eye hook above. A 1/2 conduit support brace was put across mid level then brought back to pole to keep conduit from bending in towards structure. The bottom is 2x4 lifted since grass isn't level. Each rod slips into a designated hole which allows movement for the expansion of the rods.

Created a separate apparatus to secure heavy star on top with weight of coro, lights and extension cords. This also allowed easy removal of star if need and then also allowed a 1/2 steel pole to swivel behind structure for additional bracing...

I didn't want a one piece structure so we decided to go this route and modulize the process. Take down and Set up time can be achieved in just over an hour now! Compared to the days it took last year. Storage is simple as well.

Thanks for all the help and great ideas.

B

dumb question; how did you get a 2 inch pipe 4ft deep?

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Pipe is 4 feet, pipe dia. Is 2 inches, I'm guessing!

I'm a city  boy: 

" Buried 2inch steel pipe 4ft deep"

Just  don't see any easy way to get a 2" diameter pipe  buried 4 ft into the ground.  If I could do this, then  I could put  some small mega trees in my yard(which is really small).

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A quick question, My house is only 25 feet from the street, will his tree look that good close-up ?

 

My tree is just a bit smaller than Frank's and is approx 30 feet from the street.  Visitors have commented that it is just the right size to view from the street.

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A quick question, My house is only 25 feet from the street, will his tree look that good close-up ?

Larry,

I have found that 14" spacing at the base is OK to see at about 20-25 feet, but text at the bottom is very hard to read.   My display is 30 feet from a street with a divider in the middle.   On my side sidewalk, it is about 20 feet away and people can't read some of the text.   My side of the street is 30 feet away and just fine there.  On the other side is 40+ feet and most cars park over there.  Obviously the sidewalk on the other side of the street looks best.

 

If I were to target just the people at 25 feet away, I would make the tree base spacing 10" - 12".  But consider those farther away and the benefit of a bigger looking display.  I think about 14.25" is ideal to match the angle that is created by a five point star - all 12 light strips match the angle created by the top point in a star.

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  • 5 months later...

So now it is 2014 and I have learned much from this thread. I was wondering if anyone had any updates on what they are currently doing.

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I put up my tree for a concert at our local middle school (the orchestra played their finally with the lights).  I discovered that it was not as easy to put together as I remembered.   I didn't have a drill press so some bolds are not perfectly straight nor are the two holes on the braces perfectly aligned.   It took 3 of us 45 minutes to get it up, and a good half of that was struggling with getting one bolt to slide through one of the diagonal supports, a slightly bigger exit hole would have made our work easier.  Ill be making the exit hole of all the support braces a little bigger so the bolts will fit through easier this November. 

 

I'm now starting to work on my spider web agian.  Last year I build the frame, 12 spokes made of the same 3/4" aluminum tubbing and attached to a 1/2" aluminum plate.  Last year I had Orange and Purple regular LED strings on it.  I've since mounted the pixels on the spokes, and need to do the spiral part (the part that actually catches a fly in a real web).  I'm struggling with how to attach pixels to span the distance between the spokes while also being able to break it down for storage.  The winning design so fat is grey conduit and those wall hooks for brooms.  mount the hooks on the conduit and snap them to the spokes (or vice versa).  Ideas welcome.

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So now it is 2014 and I have learned much from this thread. I was wondering if anyone had any updates on what they are currently doing.

 

Darryl at CLS

http://www.christmaslightshow.com/home.php?cat=119

developed a bunch of new stuff for a Color Motion Tree, originally developed by Walter Monkhouse.  

 

http://www.magicchristmasnews.org/magic_christmas_news_002.htm

 

These items are designed with the Poly banding

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polyester-Strapping-Mini-Coil-400-FT-5-8-x-035-/120120483264

the Pixel strings.

 

I already have several of the items, but still need a few more.

 

Just something to consider in the actual structure for one of these.

Edited by Ron Boyd
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I had this topper made by 3G based on specs from Larry Kopowski, it is made for 1 1/2 pipe. It has guy wire attachment points and post-5503-0-56914200-1404183525_thumb.jp it will have room for a starholder as well.

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  • 1 month later...

I did the same thing, I have two outdoor boxes, each  12x12x8 that I got from Home depot. Each one has a power supply and 6 CCR controllers.I have one on each side of the  tree, that way I didnt' have to cut or add lenght to the CCR ribbon cables.

This image is hi-res, download it and blow it up.http://lightshow.franktronics.net/?attachment_id=871

I used these power jacks from radio shack:http://www.radioshac...614#tabsetBasic

Just wire each power jack directly to the power supply.

Let me know if your looking for more detail.

Frank

Frank, I haven't looked at the box at HD, but it appears that your PS and controllers are sitting on a shelf and not directly on the bottom of the box. If that is the case, would you explain a little more in detail your design for the interior of the box and affixing the PS and controllers to the box's interior? Any concern about heat buildup? I've used food storage containers the last two years to hold my CCR controllers and individual PSs, which has worked OK but your set-up is so much cleaner, so it may be time for a change. Thanks.

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Hey Tim,

Your correct, the box from Home depot comes with a metal plate that mounts in the bottom, or on the back as I have t configured.

I just drilled some holes in the plate and used self-tapping screws to put the controllers in place.  I then used some cup hook types to hold the power supply down with tie-wraps. 

temperature has not been a problem in the boxes. Typically the temperatures here in Virginia are freezing to 50 degrees. I've run this configuration for 2 years now without any problems. I've never found the box to get hot. 

Check my web-site (in signature below), I have some more pictures of the power supply I just added.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Frank

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A quick question, My house is only 25 feet from the street, will his tree look that good close-up ?

My tree is only 30ft away and I never heard any complaints.

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A quick question, My house is only 25 feet from the street, will his tree look that good close-up ?

My tree is only 30ft away and I never heard any complaints.

Same boat here and my tree would be about 15 feet from the street. You almost have to be in front of it to see it properly. Was thinking about a 180 degree tree instead of a 2D tree and going to 16 or 24 strings.

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My tree is only 30ft away and I never heard any complaints.

Can you guess where my attention was focused the most on your display?

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Same boat here and my tree would be about 15 feet from the street. You almost have to be in front of it to see it properly. Was thinking about a 180 degree tree instead of a 2D tree and going to 16 or 24 strings.

I don't have a 12 ccr tree but I do have a 12 ccr Matrix & I am 35ft from the edge of the road.  I can see it clear enough from the right a bit or the left a bit but dead centre is much better. However from the far side of the road is the best viewing. Your ccr tree only being15ft from the edge of the road is close. I was wondering if you were to angle your tree a bit in stead of being straight up & down would help? Or if at all possible maybe you can lift it up of the ground about 5ft or so to see if that would help. Well now is as good a time as any to do some testing.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I received the last piece needed for the ribbon tree. A coupling pin. The pin will connect the 2 10ft. 1 1/2" pipe sections and will turn a weak point into most likely the strongest! The pin was custom made by one of my customers, Fullenkamp Machine in Portland, IN. The pin is machined from a solid steel bar 14 3/4" long and weighs in at 9 pounds! I don't have to worry about this pole breaking when I raise the completed strucure to the vertical. The best part is that Fullenkamp DONATED the pin. We at Edge-WOOD-Lights say THANK YOU!post-5503-0-86558500-1410317109_thumb.jp

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My tree is only 30ft away and I never heard any complaints.

High jacking here............do you give up your garage parking space for the lights?  I hate cleaning snow off the car before work!!!! 

 

Steve

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